Jazz Notes

Jazz is a vibrant and a living art, and this volume serves to remind us of that fact through interviews with Art Tatum, Maynard Ferguson, Dizzy Gillespie, and Dave Brubeck, along with almost 20 other jazz greats.

Meet the greatest musicians in the history of jazz. From Hoagy Carmichael to David Sanborn, these interviews and their subjects reflect the diverse appeal and deep roots of a truly American art form. Some of the interviews in Jazz Notes: Interviews across the Generations remain intact from their original publication. Others are updated to include conversations with younger artists, influenced by these legends and attempting to carry on their legacies. The interviews range from the 1970s to the present day and are followed by a concluding section that provides perspective from current artists.

In the course of the interviews, the history of American art and culture receives interesting augmentation. Some artists, such as Dave Brubeck and Maynard Ferguson, discuss how they broke through to the top of the pop charts. Of course, many African American jazz musicians endured difficult and demeaning conditions while on the road in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, and their memories of these experiences are a bittersweet counterpoint to remembered triumphs.